Character · Book 5, The Butcher's Masquerade

Scolopendra

The monster at the bottom of the volcano in the Over City's founding story, whose nine-tier poison cloud transformed ninety per cent of the kingdom; named, never seen. Every mold lion, clown and city-elf superstition on the third floor traces back to the cataclysm.

Segment appearances

Chapter 5 — Zockau
Chapter 10 — No dinosaurs of any kind
Chapter 11 — The Recital
Chapter 14 — Were-castors
Chapter 16 — Clint and Holger
Chapter 24 — The rock chucker
Chapter 26 — Wonderwall
Chapter 28 — Premature Questjaculation
Chapter 44 — The Recital
Chapter 53 — Iota
Chapter 56 — Zerzura
Chapter 57 — I Take it All Back
Chapter 66 — The Sugar Cube
Chapter 69 — The prize counter
Chapter 75 — Sic 'em
Chapter 77 — The mask

Arc

The nine-tier attack, Holger says, was everything ever fired at her reflected at once (ch. 16); something in the elf castle protects against it (ch. 28). Her passing turned the female Ursine to dinosaurs and spared the pious (ch. 44); a potion undoes her transmutation, but not for Tina (ch. 57). She dreams on the ballroom dome, a black centipede in a golden geode strangling a white tree — 'when she finally awakens, she will destroy everything and free us all' (ch. 66); soul crystals are the souls filtered through her (ch. 69). A tattoo dragon shatters the mosaic (ch. 75). Prepotente wants the crystal he says protects against her.